Chapter 13 Springtime of Growing Grass and Flying Birds "We want to live in Zhuozhou forever..."
Gu Shanyue's eyes were full of impatience. The man in front of her, Bai Yan, was slippery and kept changing the subject, refusing to answer her questions properly.
Just as she was about to lash out, the door opened, and a servant poked his head out, respectfully saying, "Miss Yue, His Highness has woken up. Please move to the inner room."
Gu Shanyue immediately went into the inner room.
Bai Yan wiped the sweat from his face behind her. This girl was sharp and aggressive, not someone to be trifled with. He was truly afraid that Gu Shanyue would draw her sword at the slightest provocation. Judging by Gu Shanyue's speed, even His Highness might not have time to save him before he was already meeting his maker.
The room was filled with the aroma of herbs, and a sound like a cat's footsteps echoed in the quiet inner chamber.
Gu Shanyue walked around the landscape screen, while Li Yuheng, dressed only in his undergarments, sat by the headboard reading official documents.
"Yu'er".
Li Yuheng looked up at the sound, his handsome brows showing signs of illness, but he smiled as soon as he saw Gu Shanyue.
"My sister came to see me."
He reached out his hand, and Gu Shanyue grasped it. His hand was slender and had distinct knuckles, as if he had lost weight again.
"Why did you suddenly get sick?"
Gu Shanyue touched his forehead with her palm, feeling its warmth. Li Yuheng smiled and pulled Gu Shanyue's hand down.
“The autumn night is cool, who would have thought that a little breeze would cause a fever?” Li Yuheng cupped Gu Shanyue’s hand in his palm and squeezed her fingertips. “You’re almost better now, don’t worry about me.”
When he wasn't sick, he always pretended to be ill to soften Gu Shanyue's heart, but when he was really sick, he didn't want her to worry about him.
Despite hearing Li Yuheng's words, Gu Shanyue's slightly furrowed brows remained furrowed.
"Back in the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers and Butterflies, your health was well-maintained, so you shouldn't have fallen ill from just a gust of wind. But since returning to the palace, why have you become increasingly frail?"
Li Yuheng was slightly taken aback, recalling the valley that was once full of flowers and butterflies.
That was the vibrant spring of his life.
His health gradually improved, and Gu Shanyue made him a wooden sword, taking him to practice swordsmanship by the stream every day.
She herself was still a teenager, yet she was still struggling to take care of him.
In the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers and Butterflies, Gu Shanyue slept even less at night than he, who was suffering from illness.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Gu Shanyue noticed the smile on his lips. "What are you smiling about?"
“I remember when you used to teach me swordsmanship, you would sternly threaten me, saying that if I didn’t practice well, you would kick me into the stream,” Li Yuheng recalled, laughing out loud. “Sister was so fierce back then.”
"Did I say that?" Gu Shanyue couldn't remember.
However, after she took Li Yuheng away, she did not give him a kind look for a long time.
Li Yuheng may be considered innocent since his senior sister died in the palace, but whenever she saw his face, which resembled hers and even more so Emperor Yong, she felt distressed and couldn't help but take her anger out on him.
“I remember everything you said,” Li Yuheng said, her eyes crinkling. “You also said that we would live in Zhuoguang Mountain for the rest of our lives… and never leave.”
Li Yuheng didn't say the second half of his sentence.
He was five years old when he left the palace, and he already had memories.
Gu Shanyue never treated him like a child; she answered his questions frankly and directly.
He knew that his mother was the renowned swordswoman who could not be wounded, that his father was the Emperor of the Great Yong Dynasty, that he was the Crown Prince who was above all others, and that he knew the reason for his sickly body... He longed to stay by Gu Shanyue's side, but he had to leave.
What belongs to him should never be handed over to his enemy.
Their eyes met, one filled with hidden resentment, the other with clear, innocent eyes.
“That’s all in the past, why think about it?” Gu Shanyue took the official documents from the bed and tossed them aside. “Since you’re sick, just rest well. You can become the crown prince again once you’re better.”
She threw the official documents, which she had carefully kept all the way from the imperial court to the palace, onto the ground, leaving them scattered and crumpled in a mess.
Li Yuheng glanced at it, then smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
He lay back down, his long hair, which he had casually tied up, now cascaded down the bed like water.
Gu Shanyue moved swiftly, leaning forward to catch the long hair that had slipped down with one hand.
Although he was ill, his long hair was still black, thick, and silky, and felt cool and smooth to the touch.
In the brief moment it took to bend over, images from Gu Shanyue's childhood flashed through her mind.
Sunlight streamed down the stream. My senior sister was washing her hair. She stood on a small stool, her hand raised high, using a water ladle to pour water over her long hair.
Amidst the rushing water, she was drawn to a dragonfly that suddenly flew by, causing the water ladle to tilt and wet her senior sister's wooden clogs.
Feeling guilty, her senior sister turned around, gathering her long hair, and smiled helplessly. Her damp hand gently pinched her cheek, her fingers carrying the faint fragrance of hibiscus leaves.
"Sister?" Li Yuheng called out to him.
Gu Shanyue moved slowly, picked up his hair, and carefully placed it on the bed. After placing it, she tidied it up a bit.
She was always straightforward and unpretentious, which is why Li Yuheng loved the way she treated him with such care and affection.
Li Yuheng's eyes were full of smiles, and she said with a hint of jealousy, "Why is my sister so nice to a piece of hair?"
“Your hair is growing well, you should take good care of it,” Gu Shanyue replied earnestly.
Li Yuheng raised his hand, flicked a strand of hair with his fingertips, and swept it across the back of Gu Shanyue's hand.
"With your words, even if a god-emperor came, I wouldn't cut my hair."
Gu Shanyue pinched the stray strand of his hair, rubbed it between her fingertips, and said, "It's better to let it grow longer."
"Do you like it that much?"
Li Yuheng smiled, turned his head, gathered his hair into a bunch, and handed it over for Gu Shanyue to play with as he pleased.
Gu Shanyue shook her head, then nodded, without saying a word, her fingertips gently stroking his hair back and forth.
A gentle breeze blew, the small window was half-open, and it was quiet for a while. Gu Shanyue patiently combed his hair with her hands, again and again.
Li Yuheng spoke up: "By the way, sister, is there something you need from me today?"
He nestled in the soft blankets, his handsome face pale and sickly, his long hair loose, his eyes affectionate, with an almost androgynous air about him.
He really looks like my senior sister.
Gu Shanyue blinked slowly: "You should focus on getting better. We can talk about other things later."
"I'll listen to my sister."
Li Yuheng smiled, revealing a hint of his canine teeth, showing his well-behaved, youthful charm.
Gu Shanyue touched his face and then his hair, and smiled at him.
After a long while, just as Li Yuheng was about to close his eyes, he suddenly remembered something and opened them again.
"Will you come with me to the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in a few days, sister?"
Gu Shanyue: "Go to the palace?"
"I am the Crown Prince and must be present, but this palace banquet is so boring. I would like you to keep me company."
Li Yuheng, supporting his sleepy eyelids, spoke softly, his hand emerging from under the covers to grasp Gu Shanyue's fingers and gently shake them.
After a brief hesitation, Gu Shanyue agreed, "Okay, I'll go with you."
"My sister is so good to me," Li Yuheng muttered.
Gu Shanyue patted his shoulder: "Go to sleep."
After he closed his eyes and his breathing gradually became long and even, Gu Shanyue withdrew his hand and nimbly left the inner room.
Bai Yan was still waiting outside: "Miss Yue?"
Gu Shanyue glanced at him. She had originally intended to take him to ask Li Yuheng, but that was clearly no longer necessary.
She turned and left, returning to the courtyard, where Qi Baitong had changed her clothes and was sweeping fallen leaves.
"Miss." He nodded and bowed.
Gu Shanyue paused slightly: "Is the medicine ready?"
"It's ready."
A moment of silence.
Qi Baitong didn't ask her why she suddenly left, nor where she went, as if she had simply gone out for a short while and returned.
"you……"
"girl……"
The two spoke at the same time, and after looking at each other, Qi Baitong looked away and lowered her eyes slightly.
"What do you want to say?" Gu Shanyue asked.
"Girl, the bed is ready, and the water for washing is on the shelf. You can take a nap after you wash up."
Qi Baitong's voice and appearance were exactly the same as before, even more submissive, with a hint of urgency in his submissiveness, yet he did not look at her.
Gu Shanyue: "Oh."
She turned and walked into the inner room, but turned back halfway, just in time to catch Qi Baitong's gaze quickly turning away.
Gu Shanyue said, "If something like this happens again, call me."
Qi Baitong looked up: "What is it?"
“I’m summoning you away from me,” Gu Shanyue said calmly and firmly. “Whoever it is, if they call me here, I will handle it.”
Qi Baitong paused for a moment, her drooping eyelashes trembling.
He opened his mouth, then pursed his lips, his voice slightly hoarse: "What...does this mean?"
“You’re in my courtyard. There’s no reason for me to take you away without asking me first.” Gu Shanyue frowned.
What does this actually mean?
Qi Baitong didn't understand, but he didn't ask any further questions.
He simply gazed at her, a faint flame burning in his eyes, and said in a hoarse voice, "I understand."
He neither said "yes" nor "your subordinate obeys."
Gu Shanyue nodded, went back to the room and, following the instructions of Qi Baitong, quickly washed up in the copper basin with its delicate fragrance. She then lay down in the comfortable quilt, yawned, tilted her head, and fell asleep.
The next morning, birds chirped and Gu Shanyue stretched on the bed.
A small bird was perched on the beam outside the window, one wing spread open, tilting its head to preen the feathers on its wing, its movements elegant and leisurely.
Gu Shanyue tilted his head and looked at the little bird. The little bird glanced at Gu Shanyue with its round black eyes, chirped, flapped its wings and flew away, turning into a distant line in the blue sky.
"girl?"
Qi Baitong was walking past the window, carrying a pot of flowers in her hand.
Gu Shanyue hummed in agreement, still gazing at the sky.
Qi Baitong followed her gaze and saw a clear blue sky.
He asked, "What are you looking at, young lady?"
"It flies so high," Gu Shanyue exclaimed, her gaze falling on the flowerpot in Qi Baitong's hand: "Are you going to plant flowers?"
“I thought the yard looked too plain, so I decided to plant some flowers and plants so that there would be more scenery to enjoy next spring and summer.”
Qi Baitong explained, then showed the flowers in her hand to Gu Shanyue, as if afraid that she would disagree.
Gu Shanyue nodded: "Whatever you say."
She promised Li Yuheng that she would leave after his wedding, and the flowers that bloom next spring and summer would have nothing to do with her.
The newly turned soil in the yard was a darker color and had an earthy smell.
Gu Shanyue casually draped an outer garment over his shoulders, his hair loose, and sat under the eaves, watching Qi Baitong's back as he diligently tended to the flowers and plants.
After looking at it for a while, she said, "Paulownia lacquer."
"girl?"
Qi Baitong turned around, his face calm and composed, giving the impression that he would agree to anything Gu Shanyue asked him to do without hesitation.
"Fetch water so I can wash my hair."
Gu Shanyue spoke briefly, his request somewhat abrupt.
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